False ban?

**Yazata** · (This post was last modified: Jan 17, 2026 11:00 PM by Yazata.)

I'm BACK!

And very happy to back among my friends too!

Big Grin

**Magical Realist** · Jan 17, 2026 11:09 PM

Welcome back! It's cold out there in the abyss..

**Yazata** · Jan 17, 2026 11:11 PM

(Jan 17, 2026 11:09 PM)Magical Realist Wrote: Welcome back! It's cold out there in the abyss..

I'll say! I kept trying to get in and kept getting - "I'm sorry, but you are banned. You may not post, read threads or access the forum. Please contact your forum administrator should you have any questions."

I wondered, what did I do??

**Magical Realist** · (This post was last modified: Jan 17, 2026 11:22 PM by Magical Realist.)

As one well acquainted with the limbo of banland, I knew this wasn't right. Stryder is the most laid back moderator ever and would only ban for some persistent trolling action. We are all pillars of this forum and have kept it going for years. It's like a campfire on the edge of an ever encroaching and darkening nowhere.

**Yazata** · Jan 17, 2026 11:25 PM

(Jan 17, 2026 11:21 PM)Magical Realist Wrote: As one well acquainted with the limbo of banland, I knew this wasn't right. Stryder is the most laid back moderator ever and would only ban for some persistent trolling action. We are all pillars of this forum and have kept it going for years. It's like a campfire on the edge of an ever encroaching and darkening nowhere.

Yeah I figured that it was a software issue. If Stryder was fixing to ban me, he'd have warned me to cool it before he pulled the trigger.

**Secular Sanity** · Jan 17, 2026 11:51 PM

(Jan 17, 2026 10:39 PM)C C Wrote: I'll relay that to Yazata. He's got a Chromebook and just about to give up the ghost and move solely to Religious Forums.

I still can't see the entire forum without logging in on my laptop. I can on my iPhone though.

What? One minor issue and Yazata was going to ditch us for Religious Forums. Egads!

**Syne** · Yesterday 12:26 AM

Fewer outages here than Sciforums.

**C C** · (This post was last modified: Yesterday 08:47 PM by C C.)

(Jan 17, 2026 11:51 PM)Secular Sanity Wrote: I still can't see the entire forum without logging in on my laptop. I can on my iPhone though. [...]

Thanks, SS. That compelled me to discover that there's an Opera browser extension called "Mobile View Switcher" that also allows you to see all of Scivillage on laptop or desktop computers, when it's activated, and a member is logged out. (Using it right now). There may equivalents that can be installed at the Chrome Web Store or on Firefox Browser Add-Ons.

Though both Chrome and Mozilla admit that not all of their extensions (sans a marker indicating otherwise) have been vetted deeply for abuse or malware. And I don't know if Opera add-ons have been thoroughly examined in that context, either. Albeit there are fewer of them compared to the other two, so they MIGHT be more adeptly vetted.

Regardless, all browser extensions harvest one's data, but the bad ones do it in a more nefarious manner. It might help to go by reviews and how many people are using an add-on (thousands compared to hundreds or fewer), but that's still no guarantee of safety. On the plus side, Chrome Web Store seems to have given "featured" status to Mobile View Switcher.

EDIT #1: Well, I've discovered now that sometimes it doesn't work. Not sure what the key factor is, apart from two or more repeated attempts at deactivating and activating it before visiting the forum.

EDIT#2: Okay, apart from those couple of earlier misfires, no problems with the extension not working since.

**stryder** · Yesterday 09:27 PM

(Yesterday 07:51 PM)C C Wrote:
(Jan 17, 2026 11:51 PM)Secular Sanity Wrote: I still can't see the entire forum without logging in on my laptop. I can on my iPhone though. [...]

Thanks, SS. That compelled me to discover that there's an Opera browser extension called "Mobile View Switcher" that also allows you to see all of Scivillage on laptop or desktop computers, when it's activated, and a member is logged out. (Using it right now). There may equivalents that can be installed at the Chrome Web Store or on Firefox Browser Add-Ons.

Though both Chrome and Mozilla admit that not all of their extensions (sans a marker indicating otherwise) have been vetted deeply for abuse or malware. And I don't know if Opera add-ons have been thoroughly examined in that context, either. Albeit there are fewer of them compared to the other two, so they MIGHT be more adeptly vetted.

Regardless, all browser extensions harvest one's data, but the bad ones do it in a more nefarious manner. It might help to go by reviews and how many people are using an add-on (thousands compared to hundreds or fewer), but that's still no guarantee of safety. On the plus side, Chrome Web Store seems to have given "featured" status to Mobile View Switcher.

EDIT #1: Well, I've discovered now that sometimes it doesn't work. Not sure what the key factor is, apart from two or more repeated attempts at deactivating and activating it before visiting the forum.

EDIT#2: Okay, apart from those couple of earlier misfires, no problems with the extension not working since.

Something that you might want to know if you want to view without logging in:
https://www.scivillage.com/thread-19636-...l#pid80845 (Spiders can't read that subforum)